Bowl of Cherries

This painting needs more work. Lots of errors need to be fixed.  I thought I was being careful with the proportions of the bowl, but apparently not careful enough. I also see that the composition could have been better. The cherry stems on both the right and left sides lead your eye away from the painting. I do like the way cherries turned out, though.

A bowl full of cherries is such a simple subject, but boy,  is it ever giving me fits.

Butterscotch

I've been researching information on hues, values, and chroma. This painting is an experiment using some of the information I've gleaned. It's a re-do of an earlier painting. I'm happy with the way this one turned out. It will have a home on my husband's desk.

I'm working on a couple of paintings using the realism techniques that Jelaine Founce described in the Daily Paintworks ArtBytes. It's a slow process, but lots of fun to do. I'll post them when I've finished.

Spot

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This was a lot of fun to paint. I'm lucky to have grandsons who are willing to share their toys with their nana!

Buddy

This is my third attempt at Buddy. I've softened the shadows a bit, and changed the background. Since Buddy is white, I realized that I needed a little more color in the background. I wanted to keep it in the grey range to keep the background from taking over the painting.

I think I'm done with this one. I plan to send it to Mike and Penny at Hopewell Bed and Breakfast . We had such a nice time there, and we really enjoyed spending some time with Buddy.

Jeff's Green Blanket

This is a  painting of Jeff resting on his green blanket.

I still have a lot to learn about Photoshop. For example, there is a great deal of glare on this photo. I think it may be possible to remove it, but I'm not sure how to do it. Also, the yellow strips are really more of an ochre color, but they turned out quite yellow in the photograph.

Oliver

SOLD

After a good night's sleep, I took a second look at this painting and decided that the background needed to be calmed down. I also adjusted the muzzle a bit so it's not so lopsided, and then added more shadow. I think it's a bit better.

Norman

SOLD

This is a commissioned painting of Norman. I've started work on his dog buddy, Oliver.

Jeff

This is Jeff, our oldest granddog. Jeff is quite an old guy, now. He leaves horseplay and nonsense to the other dogs - Jeff's idea of a good time is napping in a warm and cozy spot.

Winnie

Here's Winnie again, after the glazing. The color is a little bit closer to the real Winnie's color.

Westie

I've been trying my hand at glazing again. This is a painting that I did some weeks ago. I added a light glaze, and I like the effect. I decided to add several layers of glaze to the painting of Winnie (below). Winnie is a black dog, and I think the glaze will help. I'll post it once I've completed the glazed layers.

Winnie

This is Winnie - isn't she cute? She's a black lab/border collie mix if I remember correctly. Her portrait is my co-worker's gift to his wife for her birthday. I know she doesn't know about this blog, so I'm safe in posting it.

My birthday is coming up, and I received a fabulous birthday gift from my spouse - not only did he get me the Photoshop Elements software that I've been whining about, he also got me a Mac Pro computer! I'm in hog heaven! Getting the computer up and running was a snap, but getting PhotoShop loaded was a pain in the you-know-what. I've spent the whole afternoon trying to get that sucker onto the computer. It's finally done, so all I have to do is learn how to use it. I used PhotoShop on this painting, and it certainly makes a difference.

Winnie's owner is a PhotoShop wiz, and we worked a trade - a painting of his dog for lessons on how to use PhotoShop. I can hardly wait to learn about all the bells and whistles. I hope they will like the painting.

Chat

Most of the time I'm pretty unhappy with my paintings. I see so many things that are wrong. It's pretty discouraging and sometimes seems like there is no progress. Yet with each painting session, I learn something new. I know that through constant practice and focused repetition, eventually I will get better.

I'm reading an excellent book by Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, Mindset . I learned about this book from my favorite blog, Learning to See - A Journey Back to Painting. The premise of "Mindset" is that talent isn't innate; it's something that is achieved through diligence and hard work.

The wonderful and liberating idea is that we aren't helpless and hopeless - we haven't been consigned to a set intelligence or a set talent. Success is in our hands and within our control. A good reason to keep painting!

Henry

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Henry is another little kitty from one of the humane shelters in Oregon. I couldn't resist painting those sweet eyes.

Open Studio - Sean

This is the portrait I worked on in Open Studio last evening. There is quite a bit of glare on the forehead area. I may try to photograph it again tonight once it's had a chance to dry a bit.

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I was having great fun painting this cat until I accidentally dropped the panel face down right on top of my palette. Grrrr! I don't anticipate that I'll make that mistake again!

Figure Study

This is the figure study from last night's open studio. This is a two session pose so I'll most likely work on this again next week. I struggle with values.

Concentration

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I love the look of total, intense, focused concentration in this cat's eyes.

Playtime?

SOLD

I just love this little girl's expression. She so clearly wants to play!

This is another exercise in painting white animals. I'm using the technique that Julie Ford Oliver demonstrated in her blog, and I like the depth of color that occurs when using the transparent underpainting. It give me the confidence to attempt painting more white dogs and cats!

Katie

SOLD

Katie was much loved and left behind many fond memories. 

Waiting

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Cats often give the impression that they're just waiting for something to happen, don't they? I imagine this kitty is waiting for that darn bird to come just a little bit closer...

I experimented with this painting using the technique for painting white that Julie Ford Oliver demonstrated on her blog. This was my first attempt and it looks like it, but I will keep practicing until I get better. Julie's white flowers were lovely. If you have a minute, be sure to check out her blog (please see blog list on the right side of this page). Julie's work is beautiful and she is very generous about sharing her techniques.